Dimitris Salpigidis is convinced that Greece can bounce back from their defeat to South Korea.
Greece striker looking forward to Nigeria clash
Dimitris Salpigidis is convinced that Greece can bounce back from their defeat to South Korea and overcome the 'obstacles' ahead.
Greece failed to shine in their 2-0 loss on Saturday and could now find it difficult to advance from a group that also includes Argentina and Nigeria.
Nigeria are the next opponents for Otto Rehhagel's men on Thursday and striker Salpigidis is remaining calm despite the opening setback.
"Everything's okay, we're continuing our efforts," he said
"We were very annoyed to have lost to South Korea but we've shown in the past that we're capable of overcoming obstacles.
"We have quality, and we're not out of the tournament yet. There's still two games to play.
"We still have dreams and we'll do our best to make them continue."
He added: "We didn't play well as a team - Korea were not a better team than us, we just made mistakes.
"We'll try not to make mistakes in the future, remain focused and try to do our best against Nigeria."
Quality
Nigeria lost 1-0 to Argentina in their opening match, a margin of defeat that could have been far wider but for goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, but Salpigidis is still expecting a difficult game.
"Like us, Nigeria lost their opening match. They're a very good team, very physical, strong and fast, a quality outfit," he said.
"Nigeria work well as a team and created chances against Argentina. They're very good when they play the ball in attack.
"But we have also shown in recent years that in big matches we have a compact defence with a quick counter-attack, that's the way we play."
Salpigidis downplayed criticism levelled at the side by the Greek press, saying: "Statistics are for the media. On the pitch you don't think about past results, but in every match you try to win.
"We're playing in the greatest tournament in the world. We're trying to be happy and enjoy the competition and give the fans something to cheer about."
